1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable assembly, and particularly to a cable assembly having improved contacts for ensuring a reliable connection with complementary contacts.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrical connectors are widely used in electronic systems for establishing an electrical connection between two electronic devices thereof. Some electronic devices, such as servers, are equipped with power connectors for carrying power. These power connectors generally comprise two mating halves, i.e., a plug connector connecting with a circuit substrate and a receptacle cable assembly connecting with a power supply system for supplying power to the circuit substrate. The receptacle cable assembly generally comprises a unitarily molded insulating housing, a plurality of socket-type power contacts retained in the housing, and a plurality of cables terminated to corresponding power contacts. Such a socket-type power contact can be referred to U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,815. Once the socket-type contacts engage with corresponding pin-type contacts of the plug connector, a mechanical and electrical connection is established between the plug connector and the receptacle cable assembly. However, in some particular circumstances where high shock or vibration exists, the connection of the plug contact and the receptacle contact is easy to become loose. This results in an unreliable electrical connection between the plug connector and the receptacle cable assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,102,354, issued to Crane et al., discloses a receptacle cable assembly having receptacle contacts to solve the above-mentioned problem. Each receptacle contact includes a front contact portion, a rear cable gripping portion and an intermediate portion interconnecting the contact portion with the gripping portion. The contact portion has a central contact beam extending upwardly and rearwardly from a front end of the intermediate portion to form a curved contact section above the intermediate portion, and a pair of side contact beams integrally and upwardly extending from two opposite sides of the central contact beam. When the receptacle cable assembly engages with a complementary plug connector, a plug contact of the complementary plug connector electrically contacts with the side contact beams and the curved contact section of the central contact beam to achieve multiple contact points therebetween. However, since the side contact beams integrally extend from the central contact beam, the side contact beams would move downward with the resiliently downward deformation of the central contact beam during the insertion of the plug contact, whereby a vertical wipe friction occurs between the plug contact and the side contact beams. After repeated insertion of the plug contact, the outside conductive material, such as gold, coated on the plug contact and the side contact beams of the receptacle contact may fall off, thereby adversely affecting the electrical connection between the plug contact and the receptacle contact. On the other hand, the side contact beams are easy to rotate with the deformation of the central contact beam, thereby increasing the difficulty of ensuring a reliable engagement between the plug contact and the receptacle contact.
Hence, an improved electrical contact for a cable assembly is required to overcome the disadvantages of the related art.